


Just For a Moment (Make Y'all Proud)

by orphan_account



Series: Hamilton: The Middle School Years [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bromance, Eliza Schuyler is a cinnamon roll, F/M, Gen, Hamilsquad, Homework, Mostly for the fluffy, Multi, Platonic Hamfayette probably, Platonic Lams, They're all Preteens, Tiny Hamilsquad, Washingdad, and peggy, friendships, romantic friendships, smol alexander
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 11:27:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8531245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After surviving a hurricane that devastated his entire town, Alexander Hamilton moves to New York to live with his cousin. Once there, he enrolls in the local Liberty Central School, where his new life begins. Suddenly, Alexander finds himself in a whirl of activity, at the center of a group of friends - for the first time in his life, he has people he can trust, people who will take care of him. And the world will never be the same...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> We are messing up with the timeline a teensy bit, since Alex technically lived with his cousin before the hurricane. But hey, if Lin can mess around with history and make an award winning musical off it, don't be too mad at us. :D Also, in reality, Alexander had a brother, but we don't include him here.

Alexander scrambled to his feet, only to be knocked down by another gust of wind. All around him, people ran through the streets, screaming and struggling against the roar of the gusts and the pounding rain. Already he was soaked through to the bone, and there was no one stopping to aid him. Would he die, here, like this? Alone in the middle of the street? He needed shelter, somewhere to go...

"H-help," he stammered as the rain mercilessly pelted him. He grabbed desperately for something - anything - to hold on to. "HELP!" he cried again, louder.

People and water flooded the streets. Alexander grabbed a light post and held on tightly, squeezing his eyes shut against the rain.  _Please don't let me die here, please don't let me die here, please, please, please..._

 _"Alexander,_ _if you are caught outside in a hurricane, you need to find someone to help you,"_ Mr. Stevens had said.  _"Get to higher ground, above the water level, and get to an adult."_

But all the adults Alexander could see were fleeing, protecting their own children. _Get to higher ground._  He let go of the light post and sloshed through the water that was now ankle deep.  _Get to higher ground... get to higher ground..._ He followed the flow of people, bracing himself against the winds. They would know where to go, wouldn't they? Maybe he should never have left his place in Mr. Steven's office to begin with - but he couldn't just stay there, alone, while the winds shook the house...

A car driving by sent a wave of water crashing over his head. Alexander gasped as the cold spray flooded him, drenching what little of him remained dry. His knees gave out and he fell in a heap to the ground. 

"Help..." 

 

Someone scooped him up. Feet splashed through the water. Running, people running, and he was jostled along in the arms of whoever this person was carrying him... His face pressed against the sweater of this person was cold - everything was so cold... 

"It's okay, little one," the person murmured, "it's okay, you're okay..." 

A door slammed open, and then he heard feet on stairs - stairs to a basement. He bounced along, and then another door was thrown open. He was set down in a room. There were other people, huddled together. A door slammed shut, a lock clicked, and then horrible wind screamed above them, and people screamed, and he, Alexander, crawled into the corner and screamed as well... 

 

He sat on a cot in the Red Cross shelter, trembling, his thin frame surrounded by an issued blanket. He could hear the people talking about him, pointing to him. They'd promised him that they would try to find Mr. Stevens 

_I survived..._

One of the Red Cross ladies walked up to him with a clipboard and sat down on the edge of his cot. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Mr. Stevens and his son Edward both drowned in the hurricane." 

Alexander nodded dimly, ignoring the tears that ran down his face. 

"Do you have any one aside from him?" she asked. "Anyone else here who could take care of you?"

"No."

She made a note on her clipboard, and then reached out, as if to put her hand on his shoulder. Then she drew her hand back. "Alright," she said. "And how old are you, Alexander?" 

"Eleven." 

"Are you sure you don't have any family? Friends? Teachers?" 

"I have a cousin in America..." 

"And what's his name?" 

Alexander shook his head. "I can't remember." 

"Try," the woman pressed. "You have to try to remember, Alexander." 

Alexander strained his mind. Why was she asking all these questions? The town was in ruins and he was freezing and Mr. Stevens and Edward were dead. Couldn't she see that he didn't want to be pestered? 

"His name is Peter," Alexander remembered. "Peter Ly... Lytton, I think." 

"Thanks, sweetheart. Now you try to get some rest, okay?" 

Alexander nodded and curled up on the cot. The lady got up and walked away, and he was alone again. He looked around at all of the other people in the shelter. Most of them were huddled together, two or three to a cot. There were mothers with children, siblings and friends, all of them holding on to each other. He shivered a little under the Red Cross blanket spread over him and watched as two boys about his age - brothers, probably - crawled together and cried side by side, hugging each other tightly. Alexander looked around the room, and everywhere, there were people clinging to each other. They had lost everything, but they still had someone to hold them...

...and Alexander curled up on the cot, pulled the blanket over his head, and cried. Alone. 

 

 


	2. Moved in With a Cousin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander moves in with his cousin Peter and prepares for starting Middle School.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited that we were on the homepage today! I'm sure Lin is proud of us. Go Hamilton fandom, you rock! Love ya no matter what. - The Kawaii Hobbit.

Sunlight streamed in through the grimy windowpane and spread across the blanket. Alexander lay on his back watching as it crept further into the room, trying to focus on that rather than on the nightmare he had just been visited by. Four months since the hurricane in Nevis, and he still had bad dreams about it. Maybe if he hadn't been so tired last night, he could have re-oriented his thoughts to something more cheerful, as he had learned to do. That way, his dreams usually tended to focus on that cheerful thing. 

Sometimes. Maybe.

But he'd arrived with the Social Services people at nearly midnight, here to Peter's apartment. He'd been so tired that he'd just gone right to the room that was now his and left the childcare worker to talk to his cousin. Now he lay staring at the ceiling, wondering what Peter would be like. He'd barely even seen him the night before. Still, he knew there was some sort of standard people had to come up to in order to take in a child. And the7 wouldn't have let him come here if it weren't safe, right?

With a yawn, he sat up and looked around the room. The walls were painted white, but there were yellow stains here and there. He was lying on was a twin bed in the corner opposite the door, and to his left was a dresser.   On the wall to his right was a window, from which the sunlight poured. Across the room, on the wall next to the door, was a small desk and chair. Sparsely furnished, perhaps, but it was better than living in the facility. And it was his. It belonged to him, now. Alexander smiled and got out of bed.

He walked down the hallway to the kitchen, noting the bathroom to the left.  _I wonder if that's the only bathroom in the apartment._ The hallway ended, and Alexander found himself in a room that served as kitchen, dining room, and living room. He took a step deeper in and looked around tentatively. 

"Yo."

Alexander jumped and turned to see Peter sitting on the couch with a small cigarette box in his hand. He waved the other hand, which held a Bic lighter. "So, your name's Alexander?"  

"Yes," Alexander said. He took a small step closer. "And you're Peter, right?"

"Uh-huh." Peter lit his cigarette and stood up. He crossed the room to Alexander and stuck out his hand; Alexander shook it carefully, as Peter hadn't removed the lighter from it. Seeming satisfied, Peter turned and walked back towards his room. "She left a backpack of school stuff for you. It's by the door." He went in and called before closing the door, "There's cereal in the turn-around and milk in the fridge." The door to his bedroom slammed shut. 

_Huh._ Alexander stared at the closed door for a moment, then crept over to the backpack and looked through it. There were several black notebooks, a few folders, and a case full of pencils - but no clothes, which was what he really needed. Alexander sighed and went back over to the kitchen part of the room. The turn-around was mostly bare, save for a few boxes of cereal and three bags of chips. The fridge, however, was chock-full of beer. Alexander nudged it aside and found a jug of milk buried in the back. Peter didn't come out of his room.  _Looks like I'll be eating alone_ , Alexander thought as he rifled through the cupboards for a bowl. _That's o_ _kay. This is good. This isn't so bad._ But if it was going to work, he would really need some clothes...

As he ate breakfast, Peter came back into the room, still working on a cigarette, and walked to the fridge. Alexander looked up.  _I'd better ask him._

"So, um, Peter?" he began.

"Yeah?" Peter stuck his head out from behind the door of the fridge. 

"Well, um, I don't really have any clothes. Except two t-shirts. And one pair of jeans. But that's it."

"Oh yeah." Peter emerged with two bottles of beer hanging from his free hand. "There's like thirty bucks on the counter. Go to the thrift shop down the road." 

_Only thirty?_

"See, the lady said I should take you shopping, but right now I don't got the time, so yeah. You can walk down there, right?" 

"Oh. Um, yes" said Alexander after a moment of silence. "Yeah, that should be alright." 

"Good." Peter grinned. "You seem like an okay kid, Alexander." He turned to go, then stop and pivoted around. "Oh yeah, one more thing. There's like something at your school today where you go to get your locker number and homeroom."

"That's today?!"

"Yup." 

"But I just got here." 

Peter shrugged and took a swig from the bottle in his hand. "I dunno what to tell you, kid. They're not gonna reschedule the whole deal for you." He turned around again. "I'll drive you over at five. Just wake me up when it's time." 

He left again. Alexander finished his breakfast and went to get changed into his cleaner t-shirt and jeans, and then slipped the money into his pocket, tugged his shoes on, and went out the door. 


End file.
